Modernized only minimally (texting!), the book’s appeal lies in these calmingly recognizable characters participating in...
From a franchise as sturdy as an elephant’s memory comes explicit international goodwill.
Celesteville is hosting the Worldwide Games, and animals arrive “from all over” to compete. Babar’s children, “now grown up,” watch the athletes in warm-ups, practices and matches. Pom and Isabelle enjoy the swimming and diving: Elephants, hippos and a big cat (lioness perhaps?) power gracefully though a pool in neat lanes; next, an elephant dives off a springboard, the illustration showing five sequential positions in the somersault. Flora and Alexander prefer track and field and gymnastics (“Who would have thought that hippos were almost as good at the high bar as elephants?”). Watching, Flora falls in love with pole-vaulter Coriander, an athlete from a foreign land. Here the story segues into a gentle cultural acceptance lesson: Flora’s mother Celeste must adjust to Cory’s “small ears,” a trait of his Mirzi nationality, and Cory’s parents must accept that he didn’t choose “a girl from Mirza.” Flora roots for Mirza in the sporting events, which concerns Celeste until Babar reassures her, “I think it is love. And I think it will be good for all of us.” The wedding takes places in Celesteville but with Mirzi clothing and customs, an agreement that pleases everyone.
Modernized only minimally (texting!), the book’s appeal lies in these calmingly recognizable characters participating in Olympic sports and a mixed marriage. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0006-4
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2011
Gorgeous illustrations and an evocative time period support a somewhat staid story.
The third book featuring Little Elliot, a polka-dot elephant, and Mouse brings them to Coney Island.
Little Elliot and Mouse take the train to Coney Island, where Mouse assures Elliot that he will have a great time. Visual details such as the fashions on the racially diverse crowds—most especially the black enlisted sailor’s dress whites—point to a time period of late 1930s to early 1940s, a feeling that is enhanced by Curato’s lush illustrations in a color palette that recalls the postcards of that era. Having arrived at Coney Island, Elliot is, alas, not having a good time. He is frightened by the rides, a sea gull steals his ice cream, and the clown scares him. When Mouse suggests the Ferris wheel, Elliot climbs on with trepidation. But when, in a dramatic horizontal double-gatefold spread, he sees the whole wonderful panorama of the park, he begins to enjoy himself. At dusk, Elliot asks Mouse what his favorite part of the day was, and Mouse replies, “being with you,” a sentiment echoed by Elliot. The story ends on this tidy, rather bland note, but adults reading aloud may privately muse about the poignancy of a story of friendship perched on the edge of World War II, and this adds a pleasing nuance.
Gorgeous illustrations and an evocative time period support a somewhat staid story. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-8050-9827-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
The now-classic tale’s humor still fosters eye-rolling laughter, with Wohnoutka’s illustrations as rib-tickling complement.
A well-used trope of misidentification allows a village elder to innocently open her home to a possible predator with humorous, even endearing results.
Despite her advanced age of 97 and her poor eyesight and hearing, Bubba Brayna “still [makes] the best potato latkes in the village.” When Old Bear is awakened from his winter sleep by the savory aroma of frying latkes and comes to her door, Bubba Brayna invites him in for a fresh batch, mistaking the bear’s rotund girth and bushy face for the heavy-set bearded rabbi’s. Heading straight for the kitchen, the growling bear is encouraged to play dreidel with nuts he chooses to eat, then devours all the latkes with jam like any hungry bear would. Sleepy and satisfied, he leaves with a gift of a red woolen scarf around his neck. After some investigating by the crowd that has gathered at Bubba Brayna’s door, which includes the actual rabbi, a new batch of potatoes are brought from the cellar, and with everyone’s help, Bubba Brayna hosts a happy Hanukkah. This newly illustrated version of The Chanukkah Guest, illustrated by Giora Carmi (1990), is a softer rendition, with acrylic paints and curved lines in tints of yellow, brown and green for warm, earthy atmosphere.
The now-classic tale’s humor still fosters eye-rolling laughter, with Wohnoutka’s illustrations as rib-tickling complement. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: July 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2855-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
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